The use of nerve stimulation for treating and controlling a variety of medical, psychiatric, and neurological disorders has seen significant growth over the last several decades, including for treatment of heart conditions, epilepsy, obesity, inflammatory disorders, and breathing disorders, among others. For example, modulation of the automatic balance with neural stimulation has been shown to be possible and have positive clinical benefits, such as protecting the myocardium from further remodeling and predisposition to arrhythmias following a myocardial infarction (MI). Nerve stimulation can be accomplished with invasive surgical placement of a stimulating electrode adjacent to the vagus nerve. There remains a continuing need for percutaneous tools and methods for more effectively tunneling through tissue and delivering stimulation leads to the target site surrounded by vulnerable structures.